Woods survives cut, 9 strokes behind Duval

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - Tiger Woods finished the second round of the Masters closer to the cut line than the top of the leaderboard.

So much for another dominating performance at Augusta National.

Woods shot an even-par 72 on Friday for a 3-over 147 total. He made the cut by two strokes, and will have to make up nine shots to catch leader David Duval.

Woods has mastered the art of the comeback, but he'd have to pull off one for the ages here. Among those he would have to leapfrog are Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh, who are all at 5 under, not to mention Jack Nicklaus (even), Colin Montgomerie (1 over) and Bernhard Langer (2 under).

"There are a lot of guys who have won a lot of tournaments on that leaderboard," Woods said. "I just need to go out there and play solid. If I get it going, that's great. If I don't, I'll get it going sometime."

Woods' course-record 270 in a historic 1997 victory at the Masters left many people wondering whether he had made one of the most famous courses in the world obsolete.

They Tiger-proofed the layout - moving back tee boxes, growing rough, planting new trees and taking other steps to toughen things up.

Woods hasn't broken 70 since.

"The last couple years, obviously the winning score hasn't been that low," he said. "The conditions haven't been easy."

But they were relatively tame Friday, with little wind and soft greens. Thirty-seven players broke par, compared to nine in the first round. The course played 2.9 strokes easier.

Woods had plenty of chances.

He failed to get up and down from a bunker on No. 11. On No. 15, he missed a 15-foot putt for eagle, causing him to sink to his knees in despair.

He three-putted from 50 feet on No. 16 and three-putted again on No. 18 for the last of his five bogeys.

He'll be paired with Stewart Cink for an early tee time Saturday. In the best circumstances, he would shoot a low round, then hit the clubhouse to watch the field come back to him.

If not, there's always Sunday. And it's hard to count Woods out until the bitter end.

"I'll just try to play solid," Woods said. "If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't."